If information about electrical appliances needed by users has been set in advance, conventional information notification apparatuses can notify mobile terminals held by users of information about electrical appliances based on the set information. This enables the users to remotely control electrical appliances in accordance with the notified information, using their mobile terminals (see PTL 1, for example). FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a conventional information notification apparatus disclosed in PTL 1.
Referring to FIG. 12, an information notification apparatus 10 for managing information is configured by control means 11 for controlling exchanges of information between each information source and each mobile information device, wireless communication means 12 for transmitting and receiving data to and from each information source and each mobile information device using a radio signal, a domestic antenna 13 for use in exchanging data between each information source and each mobile information device, wiring means 14 for connecting the information notification apparatus 10 and the domestic antennas 13, and storage means 15 for storing information transmitted from each information source and each mobile information device.
The information notification apparatus 10 disclosed in PTL 1 checks the codes of mobile information devices to be notified of, using an exemplary notification-destination specification list illustrated in FIG. 13, and transmits notification information. The method of notification can be set in the notification-destination specification list, and examples of the notification methods include simultaneous notification to all users, notification to a single user, and sequential notification to users at a fixed time interval. Then, in order to contact an operator with respect to the notification information, a content to be displayed on the mobile information devices and notification means using a physical phenomenon such as sound, light, or vibrations are selected and again converted into radio signals by the wireless communication means 12, and the radio signals are transmitted to the mobile information devices with the domestic antenna 13.
Accordingly, in the case where a single electrical appliance is shared by a plurality of users such as a case where an electrical appliance is shared by family members, it is possible to notify only a user who needed information of necessary information and to give a notification of effective information on a space-limited display screen.